SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Innate Immunotherapeutics is pleased to announce it has successfully raised A$10 million through its Initial Public Offer (IPO) and will immediately commence planning its clinical trial for MIS416, the Company’s lead drug for the treatment of Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS).

The IPO has received strong support from existing international shareholders and new Australian institutional investors, with Patersons Securities Limited and Morgans Corporate Limited joint lead managers. In addition to the new funding, prior debt holders participated in the IPO by conversion of their debt and as a result the Company has no remaining loan obligations.

“The IPO has provided the Company with the funds to finance a placebo controlled Phase 2B efficacy study of MIS416 in Australian patients with SPMS,” said Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Innate Immunotherapeutics. “These patients do not have access to effective long-term treatments and so with the close of the IPO we can now move rapidly to get the efficacy trial underway,” he added.

Innate Immunotherapeutics has previously completed Phase 1B/2A trials in New Zealand during which the drug raised no evident safety concerns and, in most patients treated for three months, showed clear signs of positive effect. These trials were funded in part by the US National MS Society (NMSS) and the New Zealand Government. The Company has also made MIS416 available to a small group of former trial participants and other patients with SPMS in New Zealand on compassionate grounds. Fourteen of the 17 patients treated for up to five years under this exemption in the New Zealand drug laws have reported significant improvements in a range of their disease related disabilities.

On successful completion of the Phase 2B trial, expected in late 2015, the Company’s strategy is to maximise the value of the technology through a major partnering transaction. Pharmaceutical companies participating in the US$11bn early stage MS market are understood to be actively seeking drugs to treat SPMS, and the Company has engaged early and positively with a number of these companies.

About Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, where the body’s immune system attacks the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve fibres. The damaged myelin disrupts the communication mechanism of parts of the central nervous system. This results in a wide range of symptoms, which may include loss of balance and muscle coordination, difficulty walking, slurred speech, tremors, stiffness, cognitive impairment, depression, fatigue and bladder problems. There are two main forms of MS, an early ‘relapsing-remitting’ stage of disease and, a later, more disabling ‘secondary-progressive’ stage of disease. Worldwide, 30% of all multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers have SPMS and there are currently no approved disease modifying drugs for the safe and effective, ongoing treatment of this highly disabling form of the disease.

About MIS416

The microparticle, MIS416, is biologically derived and can target both the regulatory functions and the defensive (pathogenic) functions of the innate immune system. The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defence against external disease causing agents (pathogens) such as bacteria and viruses, and internally caused diseases such as cancer. Apart from MS, disorders of the immune system can also cause or contribute to autoimmune diseases such type 1 diabetes, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.